Erase

Act 49: The Truth

"How... how did she...?" Said Kyoko.

After Kyoko had successfully hacked through Nana's Facebook account, she suddenly received an e-mail that was purportedly from Nana herself.

Kyoko almost dropped her phone in sheer shock. Yuichi notices and asks what was going on.

"What's wrong?" Said Yuichi.

"N-Nana... she knows..." Kyoko replied.

"What?" Said Yuichi.

Kyoko shows Yuichi the message on her phone. He reads it, and was immediately infuriated at what he saw.

"Damn her!" Said Yuichi. "Just when I thought our cover won't be blown..."

"I know... even I can't believe myself." Kyoko replied.

"I mean, you were there, right?" Kyoko continued. "You saw how I did nothing that could possibly let Nana know about me hacking her account."

"She may be watching us." Said Yuichi. "That's the only conclusion that I can come up with."

"How exactly does she watch us though, that I don't know..." Yuichi continued.

Yuichi and Kyoko thought to themselves about what to do in this situation.

"Should I reply to her?" Said Kyoko.

"NO! Don't." Yuichi replied. "If we do that, we'll just agitate her."

"Then what should we do?" Said Kyoko.

"Keep silent, and try to keep on digging inside Nana's Facebook." Yuichi replied. "We may be able to find the ammunition that we need. To expose her."

"Understood." Said Kyoko.

But before Kyoko could continue with her task, her smartphone starts to ring once again. As it turns out, Nana had sent another message to her.

"Subject: (no subject)

Say, what was your name again? Nazuka Kyoko, was it? ('ω')

Oh, I remember you! You're the one who hacked the police's website! That was really cool of you! (⌒▽⌒)

Sadly, Nana doesn't know what the police thinks about that... Maybe I should go tell them...? ('ω')"

Kyoko was speechless. The TMPD hacking incident was something that she wasn't all too proud of, especially when it cost her her parent's attention.

"That little bitch..." Said Kyoko. "Nobody brings up my past except me-"

"Wait! Don't answer it! That's merely a diversion tactic!" Yuichi replied. "She'll use your own past to distract you while she takes back control of her own page!"

"Just continue with the hacking and ignore her messages." Yuichi continued.

"Got it... sorry..." Said Kyoko.

Kyoko continues with her hacking business. Meanwhile, Yuichi starts to think about Nana's messages.

"How did Nana know about that hacking incident though?" Yuichi thought. "I mean, sure, her identity was leaked, but still..."

"Could she be... faking it?" Yuichi continued. "No... that's just be plain ridiculous."

Kyoko's phone then rings for a third time. It was yet another message from Nana, which read:

"Subject: (no subject)

Heeey... You haven't answered me at all... still busy hacking? (╥_╥)

Your parents won't like it when you stare into your computer screen all day, you know?

Say, do you have any parents or no? Or have they disowned you because of a little something you did in the past? Just curious, Nana is curious. (◕‿◕)"

Kyoko's hands were shaking in pure anger as she read Nana's message. Yuichi, meanwhile, stares at her with a face full of doubt.

"THAT'S IT! You can dig up my past all you want, and try to use it to humiliate or defame me all you want!" Said Kyoko. "But NOBODY talks about my family problems in front of-"

"Wait a minute." Yuichi replied.

Kyoko glances toward Yuichi's direction.

"What?" Said Kyoko.

"Just... how exactly would Nana know about your problem with your family?" Yuichi replied.

"Wha-What are you talking about?" Said Kyoko. "Didn't I told you? somebody stole my personal info and-"

"Yeah, yeah. I know that." Yuichi replied. "But... think about it for a second."

"If there's one thing a family should never share in public, it's their internal problems." Said Kyoko. "If you're a teenage daughter, maybe you could get away with it, but someone like the father or the mother surely won't be sharing such news to the world on purpose."

"So, Nana knowing about your family problems doesn't make much sense in my mind." Yuichi replied. "Unless... Nana is actually someone who's close to the family itself."

"It may be your dad, or your mom. Or maybe it's one of your brothers and sisters, in case you have them." Yuichi continued. "... Or maybe, it's you."

"What are you-" Said Kyoko.

"And I saw from a small glimpse of your laptop that your Skype handle is 'bloodskull_77'." Yuichi replied. "And '7' means 'nana' in Japanese..."

Kyoko sat on the swing silently. When all of a sudden...

"Hehehehehe... Hahahahahahahahaha!" Said Kyoko. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"You're a smart one, Onodera Yuichi..." Kyoko continued. "You saw through my facade in no time. Amazing."

"Well, I guess there's no pointplaying pretend now." Kyoko continued.

Kyoko lowers the collar of her turtleneck sweater, revealing a purple collar around her neck.

"Yeah, that's right... I AM NANA!" Said Kyoko. "Hahaha... AHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Yuichi stared at Kyoko with a stoic face. He knew how shady she was from the very start.

Suddenly, Yuichi decides to ask her a question.

"Tell me though... why?" Said Yuichi. "What's your motive? Your reason?"

"... That Nana persona you're talking about... I've had that for years before I even met Shino..." Kyoko replied. "One day, I realized that... 'Hmm, what if I make another account and fool people just for shits and giggles?'."

"At first, Nana was just one of those 'haunted pages' that share weird and creepy stuff..." Kyoko continued. "Y'know, like Momo, Orie Chef, that kind of stuff..."

"But then, there's this someone... someone whom I really hate in real life." Kyoko continued. "I loathed her... from the bottom of my heart."

"And then... I heard about the Blue Whale Challenge." Kyoko continued. "I decided to make my own version of it, but shortened to seven days instead of 50."

"And from there, the 'Seven Days with Nana' was born." Kyoko continued. "The first time I did it... it was effective. That girl I talked about earlier? Dead. Crushed by a bullet train!"

"From there, I decided to use the game on some of my enemies and bullies from school." Kyoko continued. "All of them.... I led them to their demise!"

"That hacking incident that I talked about a while ago? That never happened." Kyoko continued. "Neither did the conversation with Shino, or... anything I talked about, really. That was all an act!"

While Kyoko was in the middle of her rant, Yuichi then asks her.

"Why Shino though? She never did anything to you!" Said Yuichi. "Why her?"

"Why? Because of her friend." Kyoko replied. "That Mayuka... that 'best friend' of hers..."

"She... killed... my sister...!" Kyoko continued.

TO BE CONTINUED